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Summer Solstice Spotlight on Seva: Green Team

By Amanda Woodhams aka Woody

Many of us here at Summer Solstice come to learn, practice and extend our capacity for the love of ourselves and others.

Coming in to the Aquarian Age there is a growing focus on how we can expand this love to the Earth we are caretakers of. On the grounds of Guru Ram Das Puri we provide ourselves with a microcosm through which we can explore how we truly want to consciously interact with our world. By getting curious around the journey of our 2013 Summer Solstice Green Crew we can understand how our choices are a meaningful part of the journey towards honoring this sacred space.

The Green Team is headed by cheeky and engaging Sarahhope Smith and was established 13 years ago. With a degree in Energy Management and a minor in Renewables she has been a community organizer for over a decade. Sarah’s belief in Sumer Solstice transitioning from intense waste management into zero waste through creative and practical action is apparent within moments of meeting her.

2013 is an exciting time for 3HO as it’s the first time we’ve implemented a zero waste target. Increasing availability of recycling and composting options have been an ongoing focus as has awareness of our “Pack it in and Pack it Out” ethos. Sarahhope is a firm believer that throwing something in the trash should be a last resort.

Through continued discussion we can increase clarity on what is recyclable and compostable and what is waste and enable ease within the Green Team. This will allow them time to think of and implement new and exciting ways of nurturing and stabilizing the grounds to its full potential in ways full of integrity.

As I rode in the back of a pickup truck today to interview this year’s busy team it was soon apparent how hard the fifteen Service Exchange participants are working to keep up with the 1000+ people attending Summer Solstice Sadhana Celebration. Many of them are undertaking two to three shifts a day leaving little time to take classes. When asked about how they were feeling about the extraordinary commitment this entailed, many spoke of taking heart in the idea that seva is the highest form of yoga. The sparky Green Team is exemplifying the kind of meaningful service we are all aspiring to humbly undertake both here at Summer Solstice and beyond.